The Adventure Begins - UNS Rimless 20G Planted Tank
- Thread starter mrsjoannh13
- Start date
The April FOTM Contest Poll is open!
🏆 Click to vote! 🏆
Our April Tank of the Month contest will feature tanks sized at 17 to 30 gallons. By then, your tank will fill in even more and should be a great entry in the contest. 
mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Awww thanks - that's so kind! Yes, hopefully by then the plants will have filled in and I should have my new babies in there.Our April Tank of the Month contest will feature tanks sized at 17 to 30 gallons. By then, your tank will fill in even more and should be a great entry in the contest.
mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Fish4dawin
Fish Addict
That's very good, I'm sure that your patience was rewarded.
mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Super amazing hubby helped me get the tank into place on the new stand today in my home office. I am so pleased with how the UNS tank + stand look together. The fit is perfect. Still need to do a little electrical cord maintenance and get the look tidied up a bit.
After I got the tank in place I added more plants - a few anubias nana. My daughter said I know have too many plants and my fish are not going to have any room. LOL. The anubias nana were shipped at what I'm guessing is full grown size whereas some of the plants in the back like the amazon swords were shipped as teeny tiny baby plants. So the scale is definitely off and will hopefully fill out over time in terms of the plant layers.
I've got about another month before I can get around to adding the fish, so just letting the tank do its thing and cycle. Pretty pleased with how it came out. It's my first planted tank so it's been quite the learning experience. But fun!
After I got the tank in place I added more plants - a few anubias nana. My daughter said I know have too many plants and my fish are not going to have any room. LOL. The anubias nana were shipped at what I'm guessing is full grown size whereas some of the plants in the back like the amazon swords were shipped as teeny tiny baby plants. So the scale is definitely off and will hopefully fill out over time in terms of the plant layers.
I've got about another month before I can get around to adding the fish, so just letting the tank do its thing and cycle. Pretty pleased with how it came out. It's my first planted tank so it's been quite the learning experience. But fun!
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mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Started dosing Equilibrium as my GH from the tap is 0. Added 2 tsp's to my 5 gallon RO container of treated water and it got the GH up to 3. I'll see how it stabilizes after it circulates through the tank. I had hoped that by adding the Equilibrium to my water container a day before the water change it would eliminate cloudiness but the tank is now very cloudy after adding the 5 gallons of new water treated with Equilibrium during today's water change.
Otherwise nothing new except for one more anubias nana on the right side. One had gotten destroyed during the original plant shipment and things looked a little lopsided so I got another plant with my latest order from Aquarium Co-op. Everything is still looking good. Not noticing any die back or melting of plants and there are some tiny new leaves on some of the nana petites.
As a fun update earlier this week, a local retailer I had been trying to get this stand and tank from finally got ONE from UNS so in addition to the tank I currently have set up here, I'll be getting a matching set in the next few days. I'll be moving both against a larger wall in my home office so they are side by side. Super excited. I think I'll get this one all set up and get fish in it then start on the second setup once the first one is stable with happy fishies in it. I am also still figuring out this fishless cycle with plants as my nitrites are a bit high (I think between 1 and 2 - it's impossible to tell the difference on that color chart). I didn't ever really see ammonia - I suppose because I am not adding an ammonia source. Regardless, I have established media from another tank that I can add to this one when I'm ready to add fish. We are taking a trip in February so I won't be adding the fish probably until the first week of March. So this tank has plenty of time to sort itself out.
Otherwise nothing new except for one more anubias nana on the right side. One had gotten destroyed during the original plant shipment and things looked a little lopsided so I got another plant with my latest order from Aquarium Co-op. Everything is still looking good. Not noticing any die back or melting of plants and there are some tiny new leaves on some of the nana petites.
As a fun update earlier this week, a local retailer I had been trying to get this stand and tank from finally got ONE from UNS so in addition to the tank I currently have set up here, I'll be getting a matching set in the next few days. I'll be moving both against a larger wall in my home office so they are side by side. Super excited. I think I'll get this one all set up and get fish in it then start on the second setup once the first one is stable with happy fishies in it. I am also still figuring out this fishless cycle with plants as my nitrites are a bit high (I think between 1 and 2 - it's impossible to tell the difference on that color chart). I didn't ever really see ammonia - I suppose because I am not adding an ammonia source. Regardless, I have established media from another tank that I can add to this one when I'm ready to add fish. We are taking a trip in February so I won't be adding the fish probably until the first week of March. So this tank has plenty of time to sort itself out.
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mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Sooooooo.... vacation is a great thing, other than when you come back after 2 weeks and your new tank is overrun with algae. Pics below are the tank in its completely disgusting state when I returned home this week followed by a series of pics as I took everything out, manually removed algae, vacuumed as best I could, plucked off dead or dying plant parts, scraped glass, and then put everything back in. It definitely looks better (final pic).
I have 6 false juliis on order that will hopefully be here in the next week so they have a nice, relatively clean home to enjoy. I also have 3 nerite snails on the way to hopefully help a bit more at keeping the hair algae under control. I am SOOOOOO excited to get my corys in! Will definitely post more once they arrive and get settled in.
I am pretty discouraged looking back and how great the tank looked when I first set it up. The plants are not looking good and I am wondering if I should just order all new plants.
I have 6 false juliis on order that will hopefully be here in the next week so they have a nice, relatively clean home to enjoy. I also have 3 nerite snails on the way to hopefully help a bit more at keeping the hair algae under control. I am SOOOOOO excited to get my corys in! Will definitely post more once they arrive and get settled in.
I am pretty discouraged looking back and how great the tank looked when I first set it up. The plants are not looking good and I am wondering if I should just order all new plants.
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mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Impatiently waiting for my corys to arrive and trying to find ways to keep busy to keep my mind off the time. Tick tock tick tock. Did some rearranging of the driftwood and plants (on rocks) today with another sand vac to remove more algae. The tank is looking a lot better compared to the disaster of a few days ago. It's still not the way I envisioned the tank looking when I originally planned it. But I think it will be a nice home for my corys and eventually (maybe?) a betta.
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mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
My snails are here! 3 zebra nerite snails. I love them. They are already making a dent in the algae on the tank walls. My husband calls them Roombas in shells and it's a pretty accurate description. Corydoras are supposed to arrive tomorrow - YAY!!!!!! Cannot WAIT to get my corys in!
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Tanks looking awesome Great with the nerites! I'm waiting for lock down to wind down a bit here and then I need some in my life! Great job on recovering from your post holiday algae break out
Looking forward to seeing the Cories That sand bed wont know whats hit it haha!
Wills
Great with the nerites! I'm waiting for lock down to wind down a bit here and then I need some in my life! Great job on recovering from your post holiday algae break out Looking forward to seeing the Cories
That sand bed wont know whats hit it haha!Wills
mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Thanks, Willis! More pics DEFINITELY coming as soon as my corys come in. Fingers crossed for some healthy babies in the post!Tanks looking awesome
Looking forward to seeing the Cories
Wills
mrsjoannh13
Fishaholic
Thats awesome they look so at home on the sand
Wills
Wills
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